SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION PROCESS

In making decisions about how best to market and promote your business, it is very important to pay close attention to the Search Engines and Directories that exist out there. Over half of all website visitors found the website they visited in a search engine or directory.

Search Engines vs. Directories

There is a difference between search engines and directories. A search engine uses an automated process that analyzes the content of your website and makes a decision on where and how to list you. A directory usually has real people who make decisions about where and how to list you in their directory. For example, Google is a search engine; Yahoo is a directory.

Are These Listings Free?

They used to be, especially when they could cover their costs with the sale of banner ads. But increasingly, the search engines and directories have turned to the organizations who want to be listed to pay for these listings. This is one of the most rapidly changing parts of the search engine environment as they work to figure out how to generate new forms of revenue.

Some of them charge for the submission of your listing. Others charge for the number of times your listing is visited by one of their visitors. Others charge a subscription for maintaining a listing. And there are other pricing models as well.

How Do You Submit to Them?

This is becoming an increasingly complex question. Most search engines and directories used to have a link on their main page that encourages everyone to submit their information to them. As automated submission software became more available, the search engines became more careful about how they accept submissions. They really do not want you spamming them with your website pages over and over, and they often penalize people who do this. Most search engines and directories have rules that you should follow about how, how often and what you can submit to them.

We use a combination of manual and automated submissions to the various search engines and directories. This is the best way to do it.